When NSA leaker Edward Snowden arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on June 23, Ecuador's Foreign Minister tweeted that his country was considering Snowden's request for asylum. But is Snowden a refugee? The U.N. defines a refugee as someone who fears "being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" and is, as a result, unable or unwilling to return to his or her country. The U.N. excludes from refugee status anyone who "has committed a serious nonpolitical crime."